Fate Decided

In a faraway land there is a path Yet, this land is not so far away Its bumps and ridges make it clear that many have traveled on it As it progresses, its mood becomes more eerie The beautiful green leaves change to black All of the flowers disappear The sky grows dark and angry All sound fell to its death like the last leaves of autumn Yet, this silence was deafening A grueling journey down a seemingly endless path lies ahead Leading to what? Two discrete paths that both end in regret Which one should be taken?

A man reaches this fork in the road He is as tired as the wings of a restless bird as he walks along The anguish he attempts to disguise in his face is easily deciphered He is a dreamer An optimist He has now realized that he cannot accomplish everything He must let something go His family? His future? His hopes? It seems that no matter what, he is the loser He would never leave his family Yet, what is life worth without leaving a legacy? What is a legacy? Drawing a blueprint of a wondrous invention that you don’t get to see Only those in future generations can reflect on your creation Is it worth taking the path of hard work? He closes his eyes He pictures what might come of either path How will it affect others? How would it affect him? Finally, he opens his eyes Glances to left Then to the right He reluctantly heads down the path to the right Forever wondering what could’ve come from the other

A woman reaches the two paths She has fallen in love with a man she met from her town As well as her job She looks as far down each path that she can At the first She can see a happily married woman Despite her age, she looks young She looks happy Yet, incomplete She slouches as if to show that she feels unaccomplished At the second She can see a proud businesswoman Accepting various awards She looks accomplished Yet, lonely Her eyes droop as she longs for companionship She paces back and forth She knows which is correct for her However, she fears that she will regret it Time is up She drifts to the left path and follows it carefully Her decision has been made

Next, a child stumbles upon these paths Disoriented Sorrowful Eyes heavy with pain Her parents have filed for divorce She is too young to fully understand Yet knows enough to realize that she will not see them as much She knows that she will have to choose between them She pictures the memories that she can remember making with each of them All of them feature the three of them together She does not believe that she can be happy living with just one Sobbing, she looks at the two paths She impulsively turns in the other direction and starts running Wondering how far she will go After running for a few moments She is right back at the start of the two paths Realizing she cannot simply run away, she closes her eyes One last look is made at the second path as she makes her way down the first She attempts to fake a smile but her eyes reek of sadness She will miss her life as she knew it

A lost young man reaches the fork in the road He is a football player from a very poor town Very few people go to college where he comes from He has been accepted A full ride to a great school But, it is across the country His mother encourages him to make something of himself To leave a legacy His father has other beliefs He thinks that his son should work in the farming industry like himself This boy knows that he could accomplish great things He also knows how upset his father would be if he left Most importantly, he knows what this decision could do to his family Another source of income could help them move away from poverty They could have a family legacy Football is his passion Still, he loves his father and his family The minutes seem to creep by as he struggles to decide He knows what he must do He glances down both paths Says goodbye to one And hello to his future

Decisions can be influenced People can be swayed or bribed Yet, in the end It comes down to one person What kind of life do they want? What kind of love do they want? What will this decision leave behind? Fate must be chosen wisely

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